This and That, 10-23-2019

Thoughts and Quotes: You deserve a break today. McDonalds

I decided they were talking to me, so I listened. Actually, I'd have been scrabbling to put together a post each week, as I was playing catch up around here. I never had enough so decided I'd post the dribs and drabs I've collected before I start a five-day post of my trip to Kentucky and Tennessee.

Time for Others: I haven't been taking time to make cards lately, and there's a new Stampin' Up demonstrator in my area who invited me to a get acquainted class. She had some kits put together for us to assemble. They all came from the monthly boxes which are called Paper Pumpkin (don't ask me why). Here's the LINK for all you card makers. And here are the cards I made.

I thought this might jump-start me so I could get back to cardmaking, and it did. I had some pages from a tear-off calendar with pictures from Marjolein Bastin (LINK) which I couldn't bear to put in the recycle trash, so I made recycle notecards.

These pages were great for decorating envelopes.

So much fun, I decided to finish the recyle cards and envelopes from the pictures I'd already matched up.

I love making cards from recycle. The background "squares" for this card were the leftovers after I peeled off the labels for file folders.

I was on a roll, so I used one of the packs of Halloween paper I bought for 25 cents at a thrift store to make my Halloween cards. I'm only making holiday cards for family now, so my list is much shorter.

Now I was really cooking, so I made my Halloween cards for next year from some little boxes of stickers I bought at Dollar Tree. Then I made my Thanksgiving cards for this year from some of that border teachers buy for putting over the blackboard. I bought several packages of border at the thrift store, so you'll be seeing border cards in the future. Sorry, can't show the cards I made yet until after the holidays.

Time to Celebrate: I attended my class picnic this year. Can you believe it? We still have enough people for a celebration. Of course, our picnics are now catered and at the country club. One salad was worthy of a photo. And we always have a cake.

Thank Yous: First, to Barbara, who brought this delightful creation to the picnic. I haven't made the cookies yet.

And to My Girls Up North of Everywhere, for my autumn care box. So many goodies; a lovely table runner, a string of pumpkin lights, a decorative gold pumpkin, some autumn leaves buffet napkins (which I use in my guest bath for guest towels), a darling card, and some yummy chocolates.

And to Bill, who picked me up when my car was in for new brakes and took me to lunch at Tortilleria Perches where I had short ribs.

And then we went to check out a new restaurant called Redd's Hamburg. It's a redo of Springfield, Missouri's first drive-thru. The owner did a wonderful job of recreating a bygone era. He copied the original sign exactly like the first where the sign was too short for Hamburger and became Hamburg.

The original looked like this.

The new one looks like this.

He collected pictures over many years so he could cover the walls.

The music comes from drive-in speakers at each booth - 50's and 60's music, of course.

The booth seats are upholstered to look like the seats in 50's cars.

I loved this corner booth with the record table.

The tables and chairs are appropriate patterns.

The chandeliers contain old fashioned Christmas tree bubble lights.

Four big screen TV's are joined to play shows from the old days (no sound). The Ed Sullivan show was on part of the time when we were there.

After all that Mexican food, we still managed to slurp down some root beer floats.

Trees: Bill and I had a retail therapy day, and when I saw these pictures at TJ Maxx, I knew I had to take photos for a friend who decorated her entire apartment in trees. This is for you Nancy. The leaves are mostly metallic gold and really beautiful.

We decided to go to Red's, and changed our minds. The jeep people were having a get together. Here's a sample of the parking lot. We didn't stay.

Teas: Tea at the Keeter Center was rather disappointing. The table setting seemed more for dinner than tea. Since this is a college, I'm guessing their budget won't allow for linens other than black and white though they do teas throughout the year. And the dining flatware dwarfed the little dessert plates.

We did, however, have fresh flowers. They were too tall to converse with the people across the table, but with tables that large, you pretty much just talk to your neighbor anyway.

 We had menus at each place with the program printed on the back.

The scone was served first instead of after the tea sandwiches, and the pumpkin butter was served in the jar. The students make and sell it, so maybe they wanted to advertise? We had one tiny scone, scarcely large enough for the spreads. As scones are usually the least expensive things served at teas, I'm surprised we didn't have a basket of them to pass at the table. 

The finger sandwiches were monochromatic (white) and not even worthy of a photo.

The dessert plate was pretty.

Tea was made from teabags, passed so you could choose, and very nice teas, I might add. However, the water was tepid, not even warm enough to properly brew the tea. I  thought $35 rather a steep price for the offering, but the students made a valiant effort, so go and pay the price just to help the students and enjoy the experience and the wonderful building. 

Times Change: When Martha lived next door, she always decorated for autumn. Her front door looked like this.

Children live there now, so it looks like this. The dog from up the street loves going on his walkies to see the dragon, because his wings flap and air blows out his mouth to flutter the streamers which hang down, making them look like fire.

The Pepper and Pals report: Nothing new with Pepper and Stormy, Sweetie Face is growing and time to trap him/her. The yellow cat is still trying to move in. Fred and Flower disappeared about two weeks ago, but then Flower showed up for dinner last night. Feral kitties are a mystery.

I'll try to start the KY-TN trip tomorrow. Stay tuned.